Free Speech

I wrote yesterday about a controversy at the University of Minnesota, where college Republicans (along with dozens of other organizations) painted panels on a bridge at the university. One said “Trump/Pence 2016,” while another said “Build the Wall.” These panels were defaced by liberals who wrote “Stop white supremacy” across them. I praised University President Eric Kaler for releasing a statement on the episode that upheld free speech, but got »

Each year, dozens of student groups at the University of Minnesota are invited to paint small murals in designated spaces on the Washington Avenue Bridge, which unites the northern and southern parts of the campus. The college Republicans painted three small sections that included “Trump/Pence 2016” and “Build the Wall.” The horror! Left-wing students couldn’t bear the sight of Donald Trump and the wall, so they painted the words “Stop »

As rioters and looters went on the rampage in Charlotte on Wednesday evening, WBTV News reported live via Twitter that “protesters” (my quotes, not WBTV’s) on I277 were “stopping traffic and surrounding vehicles. AVOID.” Glenn Reynolds retweeted the item and commented: “Run them down.” Falling into the category of “What oft was thought, but ne’er so well express’d,” I found that cathartic. The powers-that-be at Twitter, however, were having none »

I don’t follow women’s soccer closely. However, I’ve seen enough of the U.S. team to know that if there’s an act to get into, Megan Rapinoe, the flamboyant star midfielder, is probably going to get into it. Thus, it wasn’t surprising when she decided to emulate Colin Kaepernick and disrespect America by refusing to stand for the National Anthem. Bill Lynch, the owner of the Washington Spirit against whom Repinoe’s »

My view of the Colin Kaepernick caper is straightforward. If Kaepernick truly holds America in contempt for its alleged “oppress[ion] [of] black people and people of color,” then it makes sense for him to refuse to stand for the National Anthem, and obviously he has that right. (People who say they agree, to one extent or another, with Kaepernick’s critique of policing but that he should have found a different »

To me, the University of Chicago has always represented the gold standard in academic rigor and excellence in American academia. Having never attended this institution, or even visited it, I don’t know whether it deserves to be thought of this way. But my encounters with many a graduate of the University, including some fairly recent ones, has done nothing to disturb my impression, which dates back to the Saul Bellow-Allan »

The American Bar Association has long been a leftist outfit. So it’s not surprising to see its leftism manifested in a new provision in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct — rules that, as Eugene Volokh says, have been adopted by many states as binding on lawyers practicing there. Here is the new provision: It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to . . . engage in conduct that »

The Gadsden flag dates back to the Revolutionary War. It depicts a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike, along with the words “DONT [sic] TREAD ON ME.” The flag was designed by Christopher Gadsden, a delegate to the Continental Congress and a brigadier general in war that made the U.S. independent. In modern times, it has been used by the Tea Party and by supporters of the U.S. national soccer »

Rohini Sethi is the student body Vice President at the University of Houston. After the assassination of five Dallas police officers at a Black Lives Matter inspired rally, she wrote on Facebook: “Forget #BlackLivesMatter; more like #AllLivesMatter.” Sethi quickly deleted the comment, but it nonetheless generated outrage. In response, Sethi issued a statement in which she called her comment “inappropriate.” She said it was an emotional response to the tragic »

If you’re trying to understand the madness that has overtaken university campuses, Yale presents an important case study. My daughter Eliana takes a look at Yale’s ordeal in the current NR article “This is not a debate.” It’s a reported piece that seems to me to give readers the information necessary to understand the case for themselves. For me the article has a personal component. Eliana takes the story back »

Eugene Volokh reports on an alarming statement issued by Wendy J. Olson in her capacity as U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho. Olson stated that “the spread of false information or inflammatory or threatening statements about the perpetrators” of a particular crime or the crime itself “may violate federal law.” Her full statement is here. I’ll discuss the particular crime Olson referred to in a moment. You may have »

I have written many times about how “regionalism” and its handmaiden “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) are, in effect, an attempt by the left to dictate the way Americans will live. A scheme this radical is bound to produce strong local opposition. Therefore, though deeply disturbing, it’s not surprising that regionalism and AFFH have resulted in an attempt to tell an elected local official what he will say. I described »

The Dartmouth Review has compiled an excellent timeline of the latest “assault on dialogue and free speech at Dartmouth.” Brian Chen and the staff of the Dartmouth Review are to thanked for their work publicizing the story in this form. Greta Van Susteren invited Dartmouth student Michelle Knesbach to tell the story on behalf of the college Republicans last night on her FOX News show. FOX News Insider has posted »

Ammo Grrrll meditates on Our Lady of the Trigger in GOOD HEAVENS! She writes: Let me make several points about the recent incident with the deranged woman-like substance having a meltdown at UMass Amherst. First. Gentlemen: There is really no better way to wound a woman to her very core than to attack her looks. When I was a Freshman at Northwestern University, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I »

Democratic officeholders seem to be operating a conspiracy to stifle free speech and suppress heterodox thought. They’re on C.P. time, alright: Communist Party time. Glenn Reynolds named names in his USA Today column “Dear attorneys general, conspiring against free speech is a crime.” Glenn identified U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as co-conspirators. Glenn laid out the »

Democratic officeholders seem to be operating a conspiracy to stifle free speech and suppress heterodox thought. They’re on C.P. time, alright: Communist Party time. Glenn Reynolds names names in his USA Today column “Dear attorneys general, conspiring against free speech is a crime.” Glenn identifies U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as co-conspirators. Glenn lays out the »

Last Friday, protesters at the University of Pennsylvania shut down a campus foreign policy discussion forum featuring CIA director John Brennan. They accomplished this by disrupting Brennan’s speech. The protest was organized by Penn’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). I shouldn’t be surprised that SDS, an odious and notoriously anti-democratic outfit from the 1960s to which I once belonged, is back. Heck, even the Industrial Workers of »